A Helping Hand
by TheDeep
Summary: They didn't know each other beforehand, but one fateful accident will bring them together. Stella met Mac after saving his life one night and neither of them could've guessed where it would take them. A bit AU but it's just a situation to suggest how Mac and Stella met...and of course ended up together 'cause I think they're too cute with each other...please R & R!
1. Chapter 1: Rescue Mission

**A/N: Ok, so…I firstly need to give thanks to DarkArrow225 for allowing me to use her basic plot she had for "On The Darkest Of Nights" so I could create this story. This story I'm planning to have written mostly, if not entirely, from Stella's point of view. So, this is a bit of drama that leads to a lot of romance…I guess…so, hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter One: Found On The Trail**

I hadn't expected to run in to something tonight. The moon shone brightly above the trees and cast strange patterns on to the floor of the forest and path before me and my trusty horse, Daisy.

A cool wind blew through the trees and sent a chill down my spine even though I was bundled up in a jacket and gloves, plus a hat.

I had lived out here with my horse, Daisy, for at least three years. Coyotes and wolves were common in the air and any person unfamiliar with the territory could easily stumble across them. That's why I always told visitors, when I did have them, that they should continue through the area with caution and probably invest in a guide. Then I would give them a referral to a guide I knew well that lived not too far from me. I never heard from many of them, if any of them, again.

Not many people wanted to come through here after their first try and most never wanted to step foot in this area in the first place.

It was a pretty quiet place and if you found any large group of people in one place, I'd consider you lucky. Due to it being a pretty quiet area, I was surprised when I heard a high-pitched nicker and the sound of hooves pounding on the dirt path. I knew it wasn't from my own horse, so I urged Daisy forward in to a faster pace and sure enough, when we came around the turn we were met with a brown horse with black legs and highlights on his ears and nose. A bay and he had a patch of white right between his round, brown eyes.

"Easy boy," I murmured soothingly as I slid off of Daisy and walked slowly over to the bay horse so as not to spook it more. The horse seemed scared and it was then that I noticed the blood on its left front leg and right shoulder. Taking a closer look, I discovered the marks were claw marks from a wolf.

This horse had been attacked by wolves! What alarmed me the most was that this horse was riderless. His reins dangled over his neck and the stirrups of the saddle were still down as if someone had been riding him.

I took hold of the horse's reins and he tugged his head away from me in the direction of further down the trail. I look back to my own horse, whose ears are pricked and forelock is over her eyes. She is alert too. I frown and my brow furrows. This new horse wants me to follow him.

So, I climbed back up on to my light tan mount and the bay horse we'd found immediately starts trotting down the trail, going back the way I figure he must've come from.

I'm really hoping his rider wasn't hurt. Seeing the whites of the horse's eyes and knowing that he was riderless when I found him suggests that his rider was indeed injured and most likely took a fall. With the wolves around and the evidence that the horse had fought with wolves, I wasn't all that sure what I would find at the end of the journey.

They bay kept up a fast clip as he led me and Daisy down the winding trail that ran through the forest on the mountain and over a small river that ran down the mountain side to the valley many, many miles below.

How long I rode following the bay, I wasn't exactly sure but he finally slowed, getting a bit tenser and taking a moment to look around, ears pricked, before he walked onwards, me following close behind on Daisy.

Daisy had also become tenser and I found myself reaching for the .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun in my jacket pocket.

Soon, the bay nickered again and trotted forward, stopping in the middle of the trail, head down and snorting softly as if he was excited or nervous.

I slid off of Daisy once more and approached the left side of the horse. What I see shocks me.

I can only assume the man on the ground is the horse's very unfortunate rider. "Daisy!" I call, bringing my horse over to my side as I kneel at the man's side. It is quite obvious he fell from his horse and I can only imagine him and his horse trying to fight their way out of whatever horrible attack they'd faced.

One of the wolves must have bit him and clawed him. Those were the most obvious of the man's injuries. Two of my fingers instantly search the still form for a pulse. I find one, but it isn't the strongest I've ever found.

Daisy softly snorted as she lowered her head to examine the figure that I now kneeled beside. Then she laid down on the trail beside the man and me, for which I was grateful. I needed to get this man back to my home and figure out the extent of his injuries.

I carefully pick him up in my arms, grunting because I was taking his full weight, and get on Daisy's back with the man still held carefully in my arms.

Daisy stood carefully, snorting as she did, most likely because she now had "two" riders.

"Back to the house, girl," I said, one hand reaching out and grabbing the reins of the man's horse as Daisy turned back on the trail, heading back for my home.

_Half an hour later…_

I rummage through my medicine cabinet in the small bathroom of my home, looking for the antibiotics I knew I had somewhere. It wasn't extremely uncommon that I got visitors that had some kind of injury from minor scrapes and cuts to well…injuries consistent with them falling from their horse.

I had already put Daisy and the man's horse in the barn. My priority had been to take care of my human visitor, but I had at least untacked both horses and given them food and water. I had then raced my newest patient in to one of the guest rooms and headed off to the bathroom to get supplies to take care of him.

I returned to the guest room with my arms full of the things I figured I would need. One of my friends knew their fair share of how to treat just about every injury and I had learned quickly.

I now sat on the edge of the bed, first using a warm water soaked cloth to wipe away the blood. I had already performed the somewhat difficult task of taking off the man's shirt. That had revealed the extent of the bite mark on his arm to me and made it much easier to see how bad the injuries were.

I didn't think he'd broken anything in the fall. Lucky if his horse had reared and he'd been thrown off the horse that way. I'm sure that his horse didn't mean to throw him off, but when you had wolves nipping at your heels and shoulders? I wouldn't expect you to just stand there so the horse's actions were understandable.

I sat there for about an hour, cleaning his injuries and then patching them up with gauze and Band-Aids where they were needed. Luckily, I didn't have to go through stitching anything. I hated stitching injuries up. I wasn't sure if I'd have that amount of luck when I went to treat his horse's injuries though.

As I had done my work quietly, treating my unconscious patient, I couldn't help but notice how attractive I found him. I had not come across an ID, but I had not looked for one all that hard either. I guessed he was about six feet tall and I couldn't help but notice the scar on his chest. Maybe I would ask him about it when he came around.

His pulse was still there, which also made me relieved and feel a bit more relaxed. I had gathered my stuff and had started out the door before I found myself stopped in the doorway, looking back at my newest visitor. He was fit, probably did some kind of workout-like physical activity at least once a week or had a job that put him through something like that. I smiled just slightly, but I quickly wiped that smile from my face.

"Pull it together, you're supposed to be taking care of this man," I scold myself as I return my supplies to the medicine cabinet and take the bloodied cloth to the washing machine. I'm not all that certain the machine will be able to get rid of all the blood, but I had added Clorox. Hopefully that would help.

I check on him one last time to see him still out before I head out to the stable.

When I walk in, I can see the man's horse has settled in to his temporary home in my stables in the stall beside Daisy.

Dried blood stains his soft brown coat, but he seems otherwise fine. The fact that the injuries have stopped bleeding makes me hope that the cuts weren't too deep. I quickly grab supplies for his injuries from my horse medical kit before I approach the horse, offering him an apple. He gently whips the slices of apple from my hand as I offer them to him and I see that he's pretty alright with me being around him.

I set my supplies down before I pull my brown, curly hair back in to a ponytail. I then kneel down beside the horse, using another wet cloth to try and clean some of the dried blood, as well as a bit of blood that hadn't dried, away from the injury. I'm done in about twenty minutes and I had managed to bandage up all of the scrapes and cuts on the horse. None of them had been severe, another lucky thing for me, the horse, and his rider. I didn't want to think about what I'd tell him if I was unable to treat the horse's injuries. He'd probably be devastated if his bond with the horse was as strong as the horse's behavior had suggested.

The horse had led me to his fallen rider. That was a dedicated, loyal, and well-treated horse.

I then headed back to the house to check on my human patient, wondering what exactly had happened and also wondering where this set of events would lead me.


	2. Chapter 2: Explaning and Introductions

**A/N: First of all, I apologize for my disappearance! My muse was being uncooperative and plus I started school! Anyways, I figured you guys deserved this chapter two!**

I sighed softly and wrapped my fingers around the warm mug of hot chocolate sitting in front of me on the small bar in my kitchen. I had the best intentions of going to bed, but then my heart and mind carried me back out to the barn to check on Daisy and my "visitor's" horse. I had learned the name of the horse; I had found it written on a small gold plate on the cheekpiece of the horse's bridle. It had read _Avalanche_. It was a cute name. Very fitting.

When I looked up, I was met with the confused look on my visitor's face. He had obviously found the shirt I'd laid out for him and one of his hands gently rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around, obviously trying to figure out what the hell happened to him.

I offered him a soft and sweet smile, at least…what I could manage being as tired as I was. It was late.

"I see you're up," I said, standing and stretching.

He looked over at me and I felt a shiver run down my spine at how strikingly blue and handsome his eyes were, even with the confusion glinting in them.

"What happened? Where am I?" he asked, looking around my house again and shifting somewhat nervously on his feet. I quickly got the sense that he felt he was intruding on my privacy.

"I found you on the trail, your horse led me to you. You fell off…," I replied, my voice trailing off because I had no idea what his name was.

"Call me Mac," he said, filling in the blank for me. I think I see the beginning of a smile start to trace across his features. "McKenna Taylor, but everyone's always called me Mac," he added. His gaze turned curious as he looked back to me. "And to whom do I owe the thanks?"

I smiled a bit. "Stella Bonasera," I introduced myself. "Your horse found me and my horse. I was out for a ride when Avalanche found me," I explained.

He nodded and finally that smile I thought I saw appeared fully on his face. "Yeah…he's always had my back." Suddenly concern darkened his features. "He's okay, isn't he?"

I walk over to him, nodding a laying a hand reassuringly on his arm. "He's fine, I think you took the worse, _Mac_," I said, still trying to commit his name to memory between the feminine side of my mind and nature taking in how attractive I found him and just learning his name. Scolding myself for it, I offer to take him to see his horse, "You wanna see him?"

Mac nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that," he said.

I offer him a smile. "I'll find you a jacket, it's cold out there," I said before I walked to the closet near the entry to my small home and root through what I had. Surprisingly, or not…, I found one that I figured would fit him. It would at least work for the visit to the stables.

He accepted the jacket with a nod and another small smile. To my relief, he seemed to be aware that he had not only been clawed across the face, but also had to be careful with his shoulder.

After we'd got him squared away with the jacket, I led him to the barn. I smiled when I saw both Daisy and Avalanche raise their heads with perked ears and bright eyes. Avalanched nickered happily at the sight of Mac which instantly put a smile on Mac's face.

I smiled softly as I watched Mac walk over to Avalanche and rub the horse's soft nose. Avalanche responded by pushing his nose softly against Mac's uninjured shoulder. "Yes, it's me, buddy," Mac murmured softly as his smile widened ever so slightly.

I walked over to Daisy, who once again had her forelock in her eyes. I smiled and brushed the long hairs out of her face so I could see both of her brown eyes watching Mac with Avalanche curiously.

"So…what were you and Avalanche doing up here?" I asked. I hated to intrude when we'd honestly just met properly, but my curiosity was a bit too much for me.

Mac looked back over at me as Avalanche settled with resting his nose against Mac's shoulder for the moment. "I brought him up here for a ride. I heard it wasn't the greatest place, but you know…stubbornness got the best of me," he said. I thought he sounded a tad embarrassed and one of his hands went up to rub the back of his neck again.

I nodded in understanding. "It's beautiful during the day, but the wolves get a bit brave during the night," I explained. "It's very possible that you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's pretty easy to stumble across them up here."

Mac nodded. "I work with the Police Department in the city, but I needed the time off. This wasn't exactly how I planned to spend my weekend," he said with a slight frown as he gently worked a knot out of Avalanche's black forelock with his fingers.

I nodded. He was a police officer? That explained a lot. "It gets pretty remote up here. I occasionally work as a trail guide and I do some work with Daisy at the stables a ways up the mountain," I said.

Mac nodded and ran his fingers through Avalanche's forelock to straighten it out again before he looked back over at me. I thought it was really cute how Avalanche now looked like he was half asleep as he leaned his head comfortably against his rider's uninjured shoulder.

"I'm not causing trouble for you, am I? I can leave if I am," Mac said, a bit of concern entering his eyes.

I shook my head. "No, you need to stay here," I told him, hoping I didn't sound too forceful. I hated to startle him when we'd only just met and the last thing I wanted was for him to misunderstand the reason I said he needed to stay. He was an officer after all.

"One, it's really late and I can't send you out on that trail all by yourself in the condition you and Avalanche are in. Two, you don't have a guide. Who's to say you won't run in to trouble again?"

Mac nodded in understanding. I was glad to see he hadn't taken my comment about him staying the wrong way. "Thank you."

I offered him a smile. "Just doing what's right. Want to go back inside? It's pretty late and I'll have to feed the horses around 7 tomorrow."

He nodded in agreement and gave Avalanche one last rub on the face before he followed me to the doors of the barn and then onwards to the house. "I'll help you tomorrow," he offered.

I shot him another smile. He was a real gentleman. "You don't have to…" I started to say, but he cut me off.

"It's the least I can do for what you've done for me already. Let me help you take care of the horses tomorrow. Avalanche is my responsibility after all."

My shoulders slumped in defeat and I saw a small boyish, triumphant smile start to play across his handsome features. "Thank you, Mac," I said. "That would help me out a lot."

He shook his head as we let ourselves inside and stripped off our jackets. "It's no trouble. Besides, you, Avalanche, and Daisy saved my life out there."

I simply smiled, a part of me still letting all of this sink in. He was pretty attractive and very nice considering he'd woke up to all of this and didn't quite know what had happened. "Well, come on," I said, slapping him on his good arm playfully, "Let's hit the hay for the night."


	3. Chapter 3: Famous Pancakes

**I'm so sorry this has taken AGES to update, but that's why I've been itching to update it this past few days! Oh, and as a little side note: That random review on my 9/11 2013 story? That's exactly what happens when I let my best friend on my Kindle to read one of my stories, not that she likes CSI: NY…, and forget to mention it'd be best to NOT post a review since I was still logged in to the site on my Kindle… I'm sorry, I just really need to clear up my embarrassment sooner rather than later… Anyways, enough of my pointless blabbering.**

**. . . . . . . .**

I yawned as I shuffled down the hallway and lazily fixed my messy morning hair in to a more organized ponytail.

Sure enough, Mac stood waiting for me. He looked ready to roll, which I found rather surprising considering what he'd been through. The claw marks across his cheeks stood out boldly against the slightly pale tone of his skin and strikingly blue eyes.

He was dressed for the work of dealing with the horses, wearing a worn pair of jeans and an old shirt that I knew he must've unearthed from the closet in his room.

"You awake yet, sleepy head?" he teased with a soft smile gracing his handsome features. A tired smile slipped on my face and my eyes lit up in delight as he handed me a still warm cup of coffee.

"Mmhhmm, and thank you," I murmured as I joined him by the large window that faced the barn and let the soft dawn light slink in to the room. I took a sip of the warm liquid and smiled in delight at its warmth.

He smiled a bit and nodded. "Don't thank me quite yet," he responded.

I smirked a bit and softly, if barely at all. "What's that supposed to mean, McKenna?" I ask a bit teasingly, using his former and full first name.

Another smile slipped naturally to his face as he chuckled softly. "We've still got to haul some hay to feed the horses and I'll need to check out how Avalanche is doing, although I'm sure you did just fine on his cuts."

I smiled a bit and wandered over to the counter where I grabbed my jacket off the back of the chair I had been sitting in when Mac first met me properly after I saved him from the cold trail. Slipping the jacket on, I head out to the porch and Mac, without questioning it, followed me. We both stood in the frosty and cool morning air, both of us enjoying the crisp air biting at our lungs and faces and the feeling of the cool mountain air blowing through our hair. A soft nicker rose from the stable and I smiled softly.

Mac was taking in the scenery with bright blue eyes and a soft smile. "It really is beautiful up here," he murmured in what I could only call wonder as he took in the snow dusted trees, landscape, and looked onwards to the bluish mountain tops that crested over the tops of the trees.

I nodded and smiled. Our breaths plumed away in to the breeze in grayish, fog-like clouds as we stood and took a moment to just admire the peacefulness. It was so far from the horror that I imagine Mac and Avalanche faced that night on the trail.

"Well, we best get started," he finally said, bringing me back from the wandering sensation my mind had enveloped my entire body in.

I nodded. "Yup. I'll show you where I keep the grain and if you want, I can show you a bit of the trails up the mountainside later."

That caused a grin to break out on his face. "I'd like that," he said. I smiled and nodded back before I started to lead him off the porch and through the snow, which crunched softly under our feet, towards the coziness of the barn.

"Then we'll set out in about…three hours, around ten. That way we can be back by noon. Unless you want to pack lunches and we can really ride the trails?" I offered.

He fell quickly in to step beside me as we walked to the barn, just a short stroll from the house. He was still smiling, I thought even more so when I told him this. "I didn't come out here to take a short ride," he pointed out. "There's not much in life worth doing if you can't do it from the saddle," he added, rephrasing one of the phrases I knew quite well.

I smiled and nodded. "Then that's what we'll do. We can tack up after breakfast. I make some mean chocolate chip pancakes."

He laughed a little. "Sounds delicious, Stella."

We opened the doors of the barn and the sweet smell of hay, straw, grain, and horses washed over the pair of his. I was relieved to see a very similar look of happiness on Mac's face. He really did love Avalanche. His connection to the bay horse was touching and held a very great power over my amazement and fascination, not to mention love, of horses.

"I keep the grain back here," I said, heading for a small area off of the main area, which was four 12 feet by 12 feet stalls. I didn't have that much space in the barn, but I had enough for me and Daisy. I'd actually knocked a wall down in the two stalls to the left of the barn doors, which allowed the 12 by 12 stalls on that side to become one 24 by 12 feet space. Avalanche and Daisy mingled happily in this expanded area.

Mac followed right behind me and looked back over his shoulder at his horse. I figured he was wondering if he should feed the horse any grain or not. I fed Daisy a scoop of grain each day to keep her strength and energy up. The more complex trails that crisscrossed the mountainside required a horse with either a decent amount of strength and stamina or a horse that was quite hardy and sturdy, with hard hooves that allowed it to easily live in the hard and sometimes harsh mountainous area that I lived in.

He looked back at me questioningly and I laughed a little. "I didn't show you for shits and giggles," I pointed out and I instantly saw him take on a look of slight embarrassment.

He took one of the nearby buckets that I kept stacked in and on top of each other and easily hefted one scoopful of grain in to the bucket before I did the same with my own bucket. We then both set the buckets in front of our respective horses. Mac then headed up to the loft, which was the upper story of my small barn, to get a fresh bale of hay for the two horses, as I checked the water trough to find it needed a refilling.

I hunted down my hose as Mac hunted for the pocket knife I kept with the horse medicine kit near the stalls so he could cut the hay bale free.

By the time I finished filling the water trough, he'd given the horses a good pile of hay that would keep them busy enough until we were ready to groom them and tack them up for our venture out on the trails.

As the horses munched happily on their hay, already having devoured their buckets of grain, Mac slipped in to the stall and kneeled at Avalanche's side, looking at the cuts that crossed the horse's leg and shoulder.

I stood watching him and the two horses, leaning against the stall door. Once again I found myself marveling at how amazingly attractive I found Mac. He was hard not to look at the way I now was looking at him, and I'd quickly learned he was a true gentleman.

He stood after a moment with an approving nod. "He should be ok and it doesn't look like he's been or being bothered by it. They're not too deep," he said, referring to the cuts.

I nodded and offered him a smile, which he returned. "Well, let's go eat our own breakfast and then we can go ride!"

**. . . . . . . . . .**

"I present you with my famous chocolate chip pancakes!" I announced with a grin as I set two plates down on the counter for the two of us. I'd made a total of six and given both of us two to start with.

Mac was already grinning. "Great work, dear Stella," he said, clapping his hands in applause as I took my seat beside him, grabbing a fork, knife, and the syrup container with a smile.

"Thanks," I said, giving myself a healthy dose of syrup that slowly and generously slid over the soft surface of my own pancakes.

He took the syrup next and did the same. I looked almost nervously at him when he tried a bite. The smile he showed me was more than enough to make my heart melt in less than 30 seconds.

"And I spoke too soon! That's the best I've had in years!"

I grinned and laughed a little, slicing my pancakes down to easier to manage pieces. "I'm glad you like 'em!"

He smirked. I knew he noticed I'd been worried, but he didn't say anything about the matter. "Thank you, Stella."  
I smiled. "Nuthin' to it, Mac."


End file.
